Posted by:
gene
(---.dsl.rcsntx.swbell.net)
MAMADERA2000 said, (in another thread)
"...i need someone to teach me through the site coz im a hard one....i understand the I IV V chords and how to play boogie but i dont know how to play single notes in the progression (this doesnt mean i cant play clear single notes it means i dont understand how to play single notes instead of chords) and riffs......hope you can help"
I said,
"I'll try to get something started. (I ain't gonna do much, myself...I'm just gonna try 'n' get somethin' started.) Look in the "Lessons" forum for for a thread titled "Help With the Blues"...
I still HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend that Jon Gindick book/CD, though."
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(Somebody PLEASE correct me if I tell him something wrong. I'm no expert.)
I don't know what you know and what you don't know, so I guess I'll start with choosing the right harp for a song:
In the menu to the left of this webpage, look in the section "Tabs Listing." Click "View Files" then select "Circle of Fifths.bmp"
You'll want to play cross harp, so figure out what key the song is in that you want to play. Let's say that the key signature shows one sharp. (That would be an F#.) Look at the circle of...*sigh*...Look at the CoF and you see that a song with one sharp is in the key of G, as shown on the outside of the circle. To play cross harp you need a harp in the key that is one step counter clockwise to the G. So it shows you that you need a C harp.
Do you know what "tension" in music is? Imagine listening, for example, to someone playing a scale. But he don't finish it. He leaves off the last note. It don't sound right. Somethin's wrong...There should be more! It ain't finished!! COME ON, GUY...FINISH THE DANG SCALE!!!.....(That's "tension."
Then he plays the last note. Ahh...That's better. (That last note is called "resolution."
Notes in betwixed tension and resolution are called...uhm..."transition" notes, I guess.
Besides being the root, the I chord is a resolution chord. The IV chord is a transition chord. The V chord is a tension chord.
There are notes that fit no matter where you play them, and there are two kinds of them: tension notes and resolution notes.
This stuff, below, applies to any key/harp. (Cross harp, that is.):
I'm gonna show the draws and blows, and show what kind of note it is.
1 Transition
-1 Tension
2 Transion
-2 Resolution
3 Resolution
-3 Tension
4 Transition
-4 Tension
5 Transition
-5 Tension
6 Resolution
-6 Tension
-7 Tension
7 Transion
-8 Tension
8 Transition
-9 Tension
9 Resolution
-10 Tension
10 Transition
When you're playing in the I chord, emphasize the resolution notes. It should also end with a resolution note.
When you're playing the V chord, emphasize and end with tension notes.
Don't hold transition notes very long, because they may not harmonize very well.
Sooner or later (probably sooner), you'll come across the term "turnaround." That's something you play at the end of the 12 bar progression to create tension, then resolve it to bring you back to the beginning of the progression.
Oh, by the way: You need to learn a bunch of riffs. That's important. Riffs are combinations of notes. You can play them with any rhythmic pattern you choose, and piece them together this way and that way. I really think you should buy the book. The book will give you a lot of riffs and tell you what chord to play them in.
Well, that's a bunch thrown at you all at once. That ain't exactly the best way to try learnin' somethin'. And that's another reason to buy a book.
Oh... Ya gotta bend notes, too.
OK, Somebody...Take over for me, please!
Post Edited (07-04-07 22:16)